Factionless
by TrisHermione13
Summary: Becca transfers from Candor, thinking that she has what it takes to be Dauntless. She's wrong. Becca is cast out of Dauntless and must learn to live like the factionless. Does she have what it takes? I stink at summaries, I promise the story is better! I love reviews. Disclaimer- I do not own Divergent. Thank you!
1. Cast Out

Don't cry.

The thought pierces the penetrating silence that has been clouding my mind since the moment a few hours ago when my world was turned upside down. In the distance, I hear the calls of far away initiates, celebrating surviving another round.

Don't cry don't cry.

Those celebrations feel like they're worlds away. I should be out there, running, whooping and being reckless. I should be the one filled with the energy that comes with possibility and the chance at a new life. However, his cold eyes seem to suck the life right out of me. He raises an eyebrow, clearly mocking me. I try to stare back.

Dontcrydontcrydontcrydontcry .

The words meld together in my head, becoming a bit panicky in their tone. A traitorous teak finally finds its way out of my left eye. He smiles. It is cruel, predatory, and proud of provoking my distress.

"I'm Eric. I'm here to take you to your… new home." I bite back an angry retort. Of course I know who Eric is. After all, he's been surveying my training since I first arrived. He was there when we were all introduced to our bunks, at our first fights, and when we first started learning how to use weapons. He continues on, oblivious to my anger.

"You'll be boarding the next train to the factionless sector in about five minutes. I'm here to escort you, just to be sure that you don't try and escape. Follow me to where we'll catch the train." He turns his back to me and starts to walk down the long hallway behind us. I stay rooted in place. After a few steps, he stops and turns back.

"What's wrong with you? I said, let's go."

I cross my arms.

"No."

He's angry now. "What do you mean, no?"

I step up to him, emboldened by my sudden fury. "You know that I didn't deserve to fail my initiation! I don't deserve to be factionless!" He opens his mouth to reply, and I plow on. I'm shouting now. "I was winning that fight, Eric! Wesley was down, and he conceded! I turned my back, and the next thing I knew, I was in the hospital. Something hit me from behind, and I know that it was Wesley!"

Eric's face is twisted in his fury. He grabs my arms and hisses, "Fauna said that Wesley won, and I trust her judgment. Now are we done here?"

I take in the cruel glint in his eye, and I realize that this is an argument that I'm not going to win. I whisper, "She's lying. Please, Eric. You have to believe me."

He starts to pull me down the passageway, still holding my arm in a death grip.

"Sure, Candor. You failed initiation, it's that simple. You're not a Dauntless anymore."

"My name is Becca, not Candor."

He ignores me. He walks angrily down the hall. He doesn't let go of my arm until we reach the roof. Eric pushes the door open and climbs up the ladder leading to the open space up top. I grab the rungs and pull myself up. I step out onto the crunchy gravel of the roof, hugging myself for warmth. The wind blows my blonde hair into my eyes. Eric checks his watch.

"The next train arrives in about a minute. Get ready to jump!"


	2. Off the Train

The seconds tick on, leaving me to my thoughts. I wasn't lying when I said that Wesley hit me from behind. I didn't really think Wesley would be a problem, and I was right. He was only ranked in seventh- sure to be cut. I, on the other hand, was in fourth. I had gotten in some good hits early on in the fight, and Wesley had curled into a ball and conceded. I turned to walk away, and something hit my back at top speed. I know it was him. The next thing I knew, I was lying in the hospital with my suitcase already packed beside me. My rank had dropped drastically because he was so lowly ranked, and according to the Dauntless, I lost to him. For some reason, Fauna didn't tell Eric the truth about what really happened.  
Finally, I hear the low rumble of the train in the background. I bounce on the balls on my feet, some of my old adrenaline pumping through my veins. I've always been a thrill seeker- that's why I joined Dauntless in the first place. Eric looks at me.  
"I'm getting on with you. I'll show you where to go."  
I nod, focused on the oncoming train. We're both silence as it gets bigger, growing in size as it approaches. Finally, Eric shouts, "Go!"  
I take off at a run and fling myself into an empty car. I hit the side of the car hard, my shoulder protesting all the while. I get to my knees and look up. Eric is also in the car with me, not a scratch on any part of his body. His cruel smile seems to say, Looks like someone's ready to be factionless. I throw him a withering look and edge as far away from him as I can. The ride passes slowly. I spend most of the time staring out the window. Suddenly, a question pops into my head. Unable to suppress my Candor upbringing, I blurt, "Why is it just me going now?"  
Eric takes his time in answering. Finally, he yawns and replies, "It's one at a time. Don't want too many people all at once. Now, will you shut up? I have better things to do then to listen to a Candor babble on." I shrug and stare out the window. The city passes by quickly, buildings a blur in the late morning sun. Not for the first time, a cold shiver of worry passes through me. What if the factionless don't accept me? Do they really live like homeless people? Will I fit in? I've never really felt like I've belonged anywhere. In Candor, I always yearned for some kind of adventure to break the dullness of my days. However, in Dauntless, I was never quite willing to risk my life for stupid tricks. What if I don't fit in anywhere? Then where do I go? A small voice pipes up in the back of my head. Shut up, I tell it, it'll work out. It always does. Eric breaks the silence.  
"Alright, here's how it's going to go. When I say so, you're going to jump out of the train. There will be someone waiting to take you to headquarters. Maybe." He grins cruelly. "Any questions?"  
I have to ask. "Is there any way I can just show you that I belong in Dauntless? Please, Eric, I'm not lying."  
He opens his mouth as if to reply, but something out the window seems to stop him. The train is slowing down, but it won't last long. "Now!" He yells. I take a deep breath and jump towards my new life.  
I land hard on a hard surface and roll a few feet forward. My knees scream when they are cut up by the ground beneath me. I take a deep breath and check for injuries. Hands? A bit cut up. Head? Fine. Arms? Fine. I take a deep breath and look up. The train has already left, and I'm alone.  
My new world is covered in grime. It coats every surface, from the ancient benches to the decrepit buildings that have been here for centuries. The grass all around me is yellow and uncared for. I'm standing on a block of concrete, old basketball hoops rusting away on each side. The sewage system is actually above ground. Stairs to my right lead to a dark tunnel. An old sign with a few letters faded away reads, SUBW Y ENTRAN E. The desolate sight stretches on for miles. In the distance, I can see a bit of the Abnegation compound. I try to hold in shaky sobs as I realize that from now on, this will be my world. But I will not collapse in front of a complete stranger. I shift my attention to him.  
The man is old, his white hair peeking out from under his knit cap. He is about my height, yet he is hunched over from years of sleeping on hard ground without much cushioning. He's wearing an odd mixture of clothing from the different factions- a grey shirt from Abnegation, black pants from Candor, and a loose yellow jacket from Amity. His face is lined with wrinkles, each mapping out some struggle that I'm sure I will never now about. The man's eyes are sunken and tired. However, his warm brown eyes are lively in the shadow of his cap. I decide to trust him.  
"Hello, my name is Rebecca Smith. Are you the one who is going to show me to your headquarters?" I stick out my hand for him to shake. He grasps my hand and shakes. His grip is surprisingly firm.  
"You're right. My name is Eli." His voice is pleasant. It's very deep, and it has a nice round sound to it. "Dauntless arranged for me to pick you up here. Headquarters is just a few blocks down. When we get there, I'll give you a tour."

**More to follow- stay tuned!**


	3. Headquarters

I look around me once more. "Is headquarters… um… nicer than here?"

Eli chuckles. "Candor?" I shrug.

"I used to be." I smile sheepishly. "Sorry, I know that I'm blunt. My mom used to say that I was born without a filter. My brain thinks something, and it's out of my mouth before I can stop it!" I try to stop myself. I'm babbling, which is a bad sign. I babble when I get nervous. I decide to stop before I can do any more damage, and I stare at the ground, a bit embarrassed.

Eli shakes his head and waves a hand. "It's fine. This is a bad part of town. We try our best to keep our home a little bit nicer. Speaking of home, shall we go?" He turns on his heel and starts hobbling away. I stride after him. For an old man, he moves pretty quickly. We walk together in silence. Eli seems content with the peace, but my lack of a filter doesn't let me keep silent for long.

"So… how do you guys make a living?" Eli keeps walking, a thoughtful look on his face. He sighs and looks at me.

"We all have our own way of doing it. I'm a janitor. If one of the factions has a huge mess to clean up, they call me. Some people do trash duty. 'Course, Abnegation never hires us. They clean up their own messes. But they're good for the beggars. They carry around extra food just so that we don't go hungry. Angels, every one of 'em." He adjusts his cap. "Kids mostly run around. Sometimes we can get them to do chores, but not that often."

I'm puzzled. "Wait, there are kids there? How is that possible?"

Eli gets a funny look on his face. "I'm not sure it's my place to tell you that."

I blush. "Not like that! I mean, aren't the factionless all over sixteen?"

Eli smiles. "Rebecca, you still see us as nothing but the homeless people you might walk by on the street. We're just like any other faction- we're a community of people who care about each other. I know that you'll come to love it eventually. I know that I did." Eli's eyes light up. "We're here!"

I look around. "Um, Eli? This doesn't really look like any kind of home." We're in the middle of an abandoned street. A broken streetlamp lies on the ground next to me. The buildings on either side of us are old and crumbling. The windows are cracked, and someone has scratched in the words Trudy & Jim 4ever. I eye Eli suspiciously and take a step back. He smiles.

"Well, we couldn't exactly just sit out in the open. Not everyone around here is Amity. We have to be hidden a little." He strides up to one of the rotten door and knocks three times, then two, one. A female voice rings out. "Who is it?"

"It's Eli."

"Did you bring any guests?"

"Yup."

The door creaks open. A small woman with grey hair and frantic eyes peeks out. Her mousy brown hair is slapped into a sloppy ponytail. She is petite, and she looks fragile. She wears a grey shirt from Abnegation and some blue pants from the Erudite. She blinks rapidly and sighs. "Oh, Eli, it's you." Her voice is strangely high pitched. "I was worried for a little there." She opens the door wider and Eli steps in. I follow him carefully. The woman notices me and frowns. "Who is this?"

Eli shrugs. "It's Becca. Remember, I told you about her. She's the Dauntless transfer."

The lady nods quickly. In a way, she reminds me of the mouse that I had as a child. She is always moving, and she refuses to meet my eyes. She seems to trust Eli, though, and instinctively moves behind him. I hold in a giggle. People are never scared of me. I'm petite, and I look about three years younger than I actually am. However, I see real fear in her eyes, and when she lowers her head, I see a small scar on her collarbone. I wish that I could comfort her, but for once, I stay quiet. Something tells me that she wouldn't appreciate my contribution.

"Um, yes, I think that I remember."

Eli smiles at her and his laugh lines crinkle pleasantly around his eyes. "I'm going to show Becca around, okay, Mara?"

Mara closes the door and hurries away.

**Thanks again for all the reviews! Coming next week- more about Mara, the long awaited tour, and a little bit of author insertation :)**


	4. Ella

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry- it's been a long time! School has been really busy, and I've been facing extreme writers block. Don't stop reading- with my awesome friends keeping me on track; I'll try to post at least once a week from now on.**

Mara hurries down a long hallway to my right. Her footsteps echo off the bare walls, quick and frantic. I watch as she opens a nondescript grey door and slips into a room. I crane my neck to try to see inside of it. Mara notices, and gives me a quick glare before slamming the door shut. The noise reverberates around the empty foyer, sounding more like a gunshot than a door slamming.

I wince and look around. The entry hall is huge. The walls are a grayish- blue, and the paint is fading. A few drawings are posted on the otherwise empty walls. They're signed "K.P." I study them closely. They're actually pretty good. There's a still life of a cracked jug with flowers, and there's a painting of a girl laughing. They're both masterfully shaded, and I find myself wishing that I could draw well. I'm anything but an artist.

In front of me lays a staircase that I can tell must've been grand once. However, it's falling into disrepair now. The railing is crumbling. Someone has taken a roll of duct tape and looped it around the edge of a pillar. The entire room feels like someone is trying to take care of it, but is ultimately failing at it. Eli puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Here, I'll give you the grand tour. We'll start upstairs so you can find your room." When we arrive upstairs, I see that there is a long hallway with several doors. Eli heads to the left, and I trail behind him.

"You're going to share with Marie and Kayla. I think that you'll like them. We all thought that someone a little closer to your age might help you adjust." He winks. I wonder in passing what Eli means by "we." So far, the only person that we've encountered is Mara, who I seriously doubt cares about my roommate- it seems like she has enough problems to deal with already. Before I can expound on this, however, Eli pulls open the last door on the left.

This room is in sharp contrast to the rest of the house. The walls are the same gray-blue, but they are covered with the same drawings I saw downstairs. They cover every inch of available space. A scrappy bookshelf dominates the room, and it's stuffed with novels that are clearly falling apart. Three beds are squeezed into the back wall, and the window is open, propped up by (what else?) a book. The room isn't empty, either. A small figure is lying on the bed in the corner. As we walk in, she looks up.

The girl is petite, only taking up about half of the space on the narrow bed. She has light blue eyes, and there is a group of light freckles parading across her nose. Her strawberry blonde hair is pulled into a sloppy braid and her lips quirk up into a smile when she registers who we are. She dog-ears the page of the book she is reading and sits up.

"Hi, I'm Ella. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Becca. It's nice to meet you, too."

She beams. I notice that she is wearing the standard mix of clothes that I often see on the factionless. Her blue tee is too big for her, and she is wearing the gray slacks common on the Abnegation. She's always moving, and I can tell that she has lots of energy.

"Where is everyone?" Eli asks.

"Penelope, Ruth, Rob, and Mark are doing garbage disposal, Nick's begging down by Abnegation, and Kayla is drawing in the back," Ella answers. "Oh, and Eli- Ruth dropped by and asked me to tell you to go and help them. Apparently, some Candor made a big mess and they want your help."

Eli furrows his brow. "But Becca…"

Ella stops him. "I don't mind showing her around." Eli smiles.

"Thanks, Ella." He turns to me and pats my shoulder. "I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to show you more. I know that you'll love it here." With that, he turns and jogs swiftly away.

**Okay, the tour is next time... promise. Thanks for reading! :)**


	5. Kayla

**Again, it's been way too long! Bad TrisHermione… *hangs head***

Ella puts down her book and smiles at me. I notice the title- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's falling apart. It looks like someone has read it over and over. I smile back.

"Is that any good?"

She nods her eyes wide. "It's amazing! There's this boy, Harry, and his parents die when he's a baby so he goes to live with his horrible aunt and uncle and then he realizes that he's magic and he goes to this school called Hogwarts…" Her words are fast, excited. I get the feeling that she doesn't get to talk about books much. She trails off and a flush forms in her cheeks.

"Sorry. It's just that this is my favorite book. I've read it at least five times. I've heard there's a sequel, but I can't find it anywhere." She gestures to her shelf. "I like to save old books from some of the buildings around here. Kayla helps me. She found this one in an old warehouse last year." She laughs a little. "Again, I'm rambling. Sorry."

I sit down on my bed and lean forward, resting my head on my hands. "That's really cool, Ella. Don't apologize." I study her and wonder what it must be like to be born factionless. To live off of everyone else's leftovers. To only have what you can find on the streets. To know that somehow, you'll never be enough. You'll never be a part of something bigger than you are. In Candor, there was always someone to talk to. I was never alone. I was happy. I had friends. But I had wanted something more- the adventure of Dauntless, the fun every moment. However, Dauntless was much different than what I was used to. I washed out quickly. Even though that last fight wasn't fair, my fights leading up to it weren't my best. And now I'm here, factionless. Ella's life is now mine.

She stares at me. "Becca, are you all right?"

I shake myself awake. "Um, yeah. Do we have to have the tour? I mean, it'd be hard to get lost in here."

Ella shrugs. "I don't know… what Eli says goes around here. It's not really a democracy. Do you care if I just show you the kitchen and the backyard?"

I nod. "Okay."

We thunder down the stairs and Ella explains the house rules. "Since we're under eighteen, our curfew is ten. If we're not in bed by then, Eli gives out extra chores. They're not bad- just usually cleaning up after dinner and stuff like that. We're allowed to wake up whenever we want as long as we're on time for breakfast, which is served at eight. Oh yeah, I forgot- we all have special roles every day. You can make the meals, clean up after the meals, clean the house every weekend, or go out begging for a few hours. If you go begging, you have to have an adult with you. The adults help with the jobs that no one else wants, like waste management and stuff."

We turn down the long hallway and Ella pulls open a door. Inside, there's a long wooden table and seven old chairs are gathered around it. There are no drawings in here, but there is a dusty old window lets in light on the far side of the room. Ella gestures towards the table.

"So this is the dining room. We still need to build a chair for you. The kitchen is next door, and it's nothing special- old like everything else here." I see a flash of something in her eyes, but it disappears as quickly as it came.

I look around. "Wow… well, it'll definitely hold a lot of people." I attempt to be tactful. "Really useful." Ella laughs a little.

"Thanks Becca, but I know that it's old and falling apart." She smiles ruefully. "I love it anyway. You will too, I promise." She changes the subject quickly. "Let's go meet Kayla!"

I follow her slowly. All that I can think is, Everyone says that I'll love it here, but when? So far, besides Eli and Ella, I haven't met anything worth loving.

We leave the room and enter the main hall again. This time, Ella walks underneath the staircase. There's a door, and she pulls it open. Before she walks through, though, she turns to me.

"Look, Becca, I'm really sorry about back in dining room. I know that it must be overwhelming. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

I laugh and pull her into a hug. "It's okay, Ella! Don't apologize so much." She darts through the door and I laugh to myself. Ella already feels like my little sister.

I follow her through the door. Outside, the smell of the factionless territory hits me even harder. I wrinkle my nose in disgust. I blink, my eyes adjusting to the bright sunshine. When I get used to the light, I smile. The backyard is a rare patch of green. The grass is up to the middle of my shins. It feels nice. In the back of the yard, there is a majestic elm tree. The branches sway. Ella is standing in front of the tree, calling up to one of the higher branches. I look up. A girl sits on one of the limbs. She's holding a sketchbook and half of a pencil. Ella shouts, "Kayla, the new girl is here!"

Kayla scrambles down from the tree. She smiles at me. "Hi! My name is Kayla. It's nice to meet you."

I smile. "It's nice to meet you too." Kayla is taller than Ella. Her warm brown eyes are friendly. She has curly brown hair that she's pulled in a ponytail. I look down at her sketchbook and gasp.

"You're the mystery artist? Oh my gosh, that's amazing!" Kayla laughs and shrugs.

"Thanks. I like to draw whenever I get the chance. Right now, I'm drawing Katniss Everdeen." She shows me the page.

I squint. "It's really good, but… who's Katniss Everdeen?"

"She's from one of our books. It's called the Hunger Games, and it's amazing!"

Ella nods. "Kayla's read it thirty two times."

I gape at her. "Wow."

**Thanks for reading! I'll try to update as soon as I can. :)**


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